Hawaii vs Northern Colorado Previews

I'm not sure if I've posted versions of these from other papers already, as they kind of say a lot of the same things, but here are some previews of tomorrow's game.

From The Sports Network.

The defense has steadily improved over the last few seasons and turned the corner last year as it ranked third in the conference in run defense, giving up just 136.1 ypg after placing 98th in the nation in that department a year earlier. The pass defense was not as tight, allowing 241.7 ypg, but much of that had to do with the fact that almost every opponent was fighting an uphill battle both against the Warriors and the clock as they tried to catch up.

From the AP's Jaymes Song.

On defense, the Warriors will unveil a 4-3 scheme under new defensive coordinator Greg McMackin. He succeeded Jerry Glanville, who became Portland State's head coach and used a blitzing 3-4 defense.

"As far as defense, we played good at times last year, but what McMackin brought in was consistency," linebacker Solomon Elimimian said.

From The Rocky Mountain News.

Making the little plays - finishing tackles, keeping receivers from running free deep - is the only way many experts believe the Bears can avoid a loss of epic proportions.

"Our mind-set is that we don't know them, but they don't know us," senior safety D.J. Craft said. "We want to throw off their timing as much as possible. It's the first week, so hustle plays and special teams should make a lot of difference."